Brands With Integrity – What Does That Really Mean?

After spending the first half of my career working with large corporate giants, working with smaller brands led by founders with passionate integrity is now my bread and butter, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

I believe there are three founding pillars for a brand to have integrity: People, Provenance and Promise. So, without further ado, let’s examine the three Ps!

People

Knowing who your audience is before you launch a product is imperative. Aside from your product, your audience is the foundation of your brand and will be the cornerstone of its success or failure. Plus, it’s a good idea to test it out with the type of people who fall under your target audience before you launch. Brands with integrity will know who will buy and love its product, and will create products using information about its target market to inform new development. Something I often ask clients is: what kind of person are you talking to? What’s in it for them? Are they going to share the good news about it? Does it use the best possible ingredients? Brands with integrity put people, and especially their customer, first. It’s so important.

Provenance

A brand with excellent integrity will have an authentic story and a product that makes you think: "Gosh why didn't anyone else make this? It's a no-brainer!" I’ll often ask clients what the full story behind the product is, why it was created, where and how it was made and whether it’s reinventing something that’s been commercialised or ruined by other brands. For your brand to have deep integrity, authenticity and high regard for quality are absolute musts, and it’s not something you can or should try to fake.

Promise

Keeping promises about your product is incredibly important. Your promise to consumers should be simple and free from jargon. One client in particular, Farmer Jo, delivers on its promise of very fancy muesli. Its batches of muesli are handmade using wholesome ingredients from farmers who respect the product and their land. Another client, Loco Love, delivers on its promise of chocolate with benefits, too. Not only are its chocolates handcrafted using the finest organic ingredients, but they are spiked with herbs and give back to those in need with its buy one, give one policy. In relation to promise I’ll often ask my clients: what are you actually promising? Are you able to consistently deliver it? Do your new products deliver against this same promise? If the answer is no, then it’s time to rethink.

Ultimately, brands with integrity will always aim to improve, will be true to themselves and hold high morals.

I’d love to work with you to build on your business’s integrity and take it from blooming to booming. Make an enquiry to start the process.